Passing through the stone-lined threshold of Ichiban Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar's pagoda-style building, visitors enter an indoor garden where plants burst from beds around a waterfall and bubbling stream. The decor draws from Japanese tradition and culture—on which both Ichiban locations base their aesthetic variations—in much the same way as the chefs’ cuisine. Since 1979, these culinary greats have introduced diners to the teppanyaki style of grilling as well as classic Japanese dishes such as tempura, udon, and gyoza.

At tableside grills, knives flash as chefs sizzle, flip, and set ablaze morsels of scallops, filet mignon, salmon, and chicken. While cooking, each chef displays an individualized sense of showmanship and culinary style by spotlighting a range of spatula moves and carving meats into the profiles of their favorite celebrities. Sushi chefs fill boat-shaped platters with more than 40 varieties of sushi, rolling seaweed around roe, eel, squid, cucumber, and fried tofu before placing each on a canapé of seasoned rice. All these dishes flit across tongues with complementary sips of sake, wine, beer, or mixed drinks with names such as Panda and Kabuki.